Category: Race (Page 2 of 11)

These are posts on race from the blog Base and Superstructure. Race is one of the most important issues of political and social power. Topics include the relationship between race and class, racism in the United States and the rest of the world, and the relationship between race and political movements.

Imagine has a group of factory workers entering the factory after being tended by women acting as doctors and healers. A caption reads 'Capitalism also depends on domestic labor.' The image represents social reproduction theory.

Social Reproduction Theory

October 30, 2023 / baseblogger

In the recent edited collection Social Reproduction Theory, Tithi Bhattacharya and others make timely contributions to Marxist feminism.

Their main message is that rather than commodities, labor plays a central role in both production and the social reproduction of society. Contrary to dual-system theory, Bhattacharya and others see social reproduction theory as offering a unitary account of production and reproduction. Unlike many early Marxists, however, they center labor and class conflict in explaining both.

I’ll take a closer look at Bhattacharya’s introduction to the volume, as well as her essay in the collection. I think her work, in particular, best captures the spirit of the approach.

Images of two questions from the Implicit Association Test. The images show a person at a computer looking at photos of a black person and a white person.

Two Deeper Problems for the Implicit Association Test

October 16, 2023 / baseblogger

Anyone following the replication crisis (and other debates) in the social sciences knows about one key problem with the implicit association test. In short, it’s not clear whether the test predicts anything. That is to say, ‘implicit bias,’ as measured by the IAT, might not predict prejudice or discriminatory behavior.

That’s a problem for the IAT for the obvious reason that its creators intend it as a major tool in the fight against racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression.

But I want to suggest that the IAT has even deeper problems. At least two of them. Even if the IAT does predict behavior, it still doesn’t explain a lot about why racism and sexism and happen. Nor does it tells us how to fight them.

The Idea of Prison Abolition

August 28, 2023 / baseblogger

I recently read The Idea of Prison Abolition, a book by Tommie Shelby collecting his remarks in the Carl G. Hempel Lecture Series at Princeton. It’s a book on a polarizing issue, and its conclusions will satisfy few participants.

But that need not trouble us.

Shelby isn’t an abolitionist. Rather, he sets out to study the work of abolitionists in order to draw philosophical and practical insights about prisons. He draws insights both for our society and for the better societies we seek to build. Along the way, he draws key distinctions and offers sympathetic criticism of abolitionism. He also situates abolitionism within both black Marxist and black radical traditions.

It’s a worthwhile project, and I’ll take an extended look at it. I’ll also say a bit about how it clarifies and expands upon what I wrote about prison abolition some time ago.

After Black Lives Matter

June 22, 2023 / baseblogger

Cedric Johnson dropped After Black Lives Matter into an ongoing debate between a ‘woke’ and ‘anti-woke’ left. It’s an older debate, but one running hot in the last few years. Unlike many other authors, Johnson tries, at least in some ways, to work around and between the two camps.

Not that he always succeeds. And it’s pretty clear which side he prefers (the ‘anti-woke’ side). But I think he wrote After Black Lives Matter in an effort to move the debate forward.

Let’s take a look.

Revisiting the Broke White Person

February 2, 2023 / baseblogger

Nearly a decade ago, the article ‘Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person’ appeared on Huffington Post. It dropped to much acclaim, especially among people dissatisfied by the classic Peggy McIntosh article ‘White Privilege and Male Privilege’.

The basic thought is simple enough: McIntosh comes up with lots of great examples of white privilege. But many of her examples speak more to class than race. Especially given her status as a professional at an elite private university (Wellesley) and the kinds of people she interacts with at that institution.

To the broke white person, such an article amounts to a farce. Who cares about finding a publisher (literally one of McIntosh’s examples) when you can’t even pay rent?

But let’s take a closer look.

Category: Race (Page 2 of 11)

Social Reproduction Theory

Two Deeper Problems for the Implicit Association Test

The Idea of Prison Abolition

After Black Lives Matter

Revisiting the Broke White Person

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